Some Aspects of NQ-FVP (Part 3)

In Part 2 I said that I would deal with how NQ-FVP can be used as a long list, a short list and a no-list system, all at the same time.

In fact this is very simple because the system naturally suits itself to isolating a group of tasks at the end of the list where they can be dotted and re-dotted as much as is required.

To do this, decide which tasks on your NQ-FVP list you want to be in your short list or no-list, dot them and move them to the end of the NQ-FVP list by the usual method of doing and re-entering them.

Alternatively you can move them by reprioritising your list. This is done by deleting the relevant tasks and re-entering them at the end of the list. Either way you have moved the tasks to the end of the list where you can action them as many times as required. This is very flexible because you can include other tasks on the NQ-FVP list as much or as little as you like.

You can use the same technique with Simple Scanning though it is less flexible.

Comments

[Aaron Hsu]

It all makes sense now. :-) I get what you meant before on the forums.

[Seraphim]

That's very similar to what I was doing with Serial No-List, with two (minor) differences:

1. I would start a new page before capturing the items for the no-list -- this would help to separate them from all the other tasks, and would help me focus.

2. I would usually write down the tasks that were top-of-mind at the moment, rather than scanning and selecting from the existing list.

It's a very effective method. It gives you the freshness and focus benefits of no-list, with the security blanket and seedbed features of long-list. And you naturally fall back into your older items when you are done taking care of your no-list tasks.

[Mark.H.]

I also start a new page for the short list, and write without referring to the long list. Usually my short list are items that need to be done in the next hour, Although I often finish everything on the short list, sometimes there are items that are not completed, and I just treat them as part of the long list.

I have tried writing the short list on a separate piece of paper, but then I have either have to remember to throw out the paper, or, if there are items left not finished, I need to transfer those items somewhere else. Also I always have the same place to write new items. Generally the notebook is on chronological order.

There are some disadvantages to this however. It adds to the number of pages in a notebook. It separates the long list pages. I also keep notes in the notebook, which separates them more.
I keep a list in the front of the notebook where the long list pages are, and when the notebook is getting toward the end, I review all of the pages and work harder to reduce them, and might transfer some items over to a new notebook, or leave them to review at a later time.

With Autofocus, one is constantly reviewing the list, but if one is working off a short list much of the time, there is a need to review the long list. If one is putting new items on the long list daily, these have to be processed daily to make sure the items that need to be done today get done.

I also have an appointment book,and a Moleskine 2022 planner for future dates. I usually complete a notebook in a month or a little more. I teach piano lessons, and I have a notebook for that. I have a journal that I use for longer term things. I would like to get better at planning longer term.

I do miss the simplicity of the Autofocus method. I kept it up for several months, I think it was about 9 months to a year. If that is the list you do all your work from, you are constantly reviewing it.

At some point, if there is a multiplicity of lists, it gets hard to manage.

[Taxidriver]

I am a writer with a full time job and a two year old girl, so I have little free time. What I try to do is set aside an hour to write almost every day and maybe some time to read. These for me are the essential activities, which with this system are always ticked and at the bottom of the list. On the rare days when I have a little more time with this system I can devote myself to the rest of the activities, mostly related to everyday things, laundry, cleaning, etc. In short, this system seems to me to have the flexibility I was looking for and relieved of the algorithm it could work even better. I have read all of your books and have found many helpful tips. Do you have any special advice for my situation? An hour and a half of free time is often the most I can get. On nq-fvp: does it still make sense for you to dot the first task without an algorithm? Could it be a good idea to combine nq-fvp with the system suggested in your latest book?

[Christopher]

Also don't forget, that according to Mark Forster, the systematic version of the No List system "The Next Hour" is also included in FV automatically.

[Mark Forster]

Taxidriver:

<< Do you have any special advice for my situation? An hour and a half of free time is often the most I can get. >>

NQ-FVP works pretty well with a short list, but if you have only an hour and a half of discretionary time you might do better with something like the Next Hour. This is just a matter of writing a list of what you intend to do over the next hour or so and adding tasks to it so that you've always got approximately an hour's work on the list.

<< On nq-fvp: does it still make sense for you to dot the first task without an algorithm? >>

There is still an algorithm in NQ-FVP. It's just that there isn't any question. The effect of the algorithm is to draw you inexorably towards the first active task on the list. However if you want to try it without dotting the first task, there's nothing stopping you.

<< Could it be a good idea to combine nq-fvp with the system suggested in your latest book? >>

I've not tried that myself so I can't really answer that question. However again there is nothing stopping you from trying it out. If you do I'd be interested to know how you get on.

[Taxidriver]

Thanks Mark for your reply. I think I'll try the Next Hour system. I like no lists, because they are zero inboxes. At the same time, I like how FVP and NQ-fVP allow you to brainstorm and keep all your activities under control at a glance. In addition, the bottom of the list works almost like a no list system. So I think sooner or later I'll try to combine the two.

[JD]

There is an interesting congruence of methodologies here. Both Seraphim and Aaron Hsu seem to have different methods but similar objectives in achieving focus on a dedicated list through the Serial No List and Ivy Lee method (described in another thread) respectively.
I'm using Aaron's Ivy Lee's method and it has proven to be effective in achieving focus. I sometimes have trouble filling up the 6 tasks I want to work on from my feeder list, which is a good thing!
Now that Mark has introduced this simple method to work on a short list within FVP, which has the same objective imo, I'm tempted to give it a try.